facebook, terminator, traffic and as a first name of a child, not welcomed, u.s. navy. on this day in 1924, george gershwin performed rap sod chill blue the first time. the orchestra leader organized the concert in new york as an educational event to teach americans to appreciate jazz as serious music. he asked gershwin to write a piece for the show but the young broadway composer was working on a musical and barely finished rhapsody in time. historians say he improvised his own piano part at the world premiere. music critics didn t seem to mind, calling him an extraordinary talent. george and his brother, ira, wrote two dozen songs for shows and movies. rhapsody in blue first wowed a crowd 90 years ago today. well, not so much on the dow today as rap sodby di in blue is right, started well, down a little bit, just above just